I have read most of the books in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and have really enjoyed them. In fact, I’ve purchased the ones I have yet to read and can’t wait to get lost in the pages. The characters are well developed and I love Gemma, who runs and is part owner n the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. Gemma does an amazing job of fleshing out the mystery and figuring out who is guilty of committing murder. There are lots of twists and turns along the way and the paranormal aspect of this one was not too over the top to be a turnoff. This is a delightful cozy mystery and I find myself looking forward to the next book and adventure with Gemma and the rest of the gang from West London.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lanes Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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The Sign of Four Spirits was an entertaining cozy mystery that revolved around a psychic fair in present day West London. I really enjoyed the premise of a descendent of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle running a Sherlock Holmes themed bookstore. In this installment of the bookshop mystery series, owner Gemma Doyle is persuaded to attend a seance by an employee of hers and a murder transpires shortly after it begins. The rest of the story is Gemma and her detective boyfriend figuring out the clues and motive for murder.
Kim Hicks narrated this story and she did an admirable job providing varying voices for all the characters. I recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries, especially those set in England.

I read all the books leading up to this ARC and I am glad I did, this is a great series! I can't wait until the next installment comes out! Vicki Delany is one of my always-read authors now! I can't wait to see where Gemma and her detective end up!

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This is yet another lovely installment in the series and I was happy to spend some time in the world these characters create. This adventure centers around a medium and a seance gone bad, as a part of a psychic fair that comes into town. I will say that the audiobook for this didn't do it justice, and it felt like it was trying to make it seem overdone and campy (more than you want it to). The voice acting would have made me stop reading this book if I wasn't already attached to the characters and wanted to continue in the series.

The Sign of Four Spirits is the ninth book in Vicky Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries series. All Things Sherlock Bookshop owner Gemma Doyle is drawn into another mystery when the psychic fair moves in to West London. Hyped by her friend and all things Sherlock aficionado Donald Morris, the psychic fair attendees become well schooled in how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle delved into the spiritual world and the many books he wrote on the subject. While this brought a lot of business to Gemma’s bookshop, it also drew in those around her leading to a seance at socialite Rebecca Stanton’s oceanside mansion.

Going in support of her shop employee and friend Ashleigh, Gemma and business partner Jayne Wilson join the group of thirteen on a very stormy night. Along with Gemma, Jayne, Ashleigh, and Rebecca were Ashleigh’s birth mom Bunny Leigh, Rebecca’s stepson Daniel and his wife Eleanor, tourists Max and Larissa Greenwood, as well the medium Madame Lavallye and her assistant Mary Moffat. As the thirteenth, Gemma was asked to wait in the other room as both the seance and the storm raged on. Waiting just outside the closed door, Gemma hears bits and pieces until a blood curdling scream brings her running into the room. In a closed room, with all participants seated around the large round table, the medium lies slumped on the table apparently dead.

And thus the mystery begins and the game is afoot! As have each of the books in the series before, this is a very well woven mystery filled with red herrings and Easter eggs. The character development is spot on and traits are revealed in due time to add to the storyline. I very much enjoyed this book and do recommend it!

I absolutely loved this book!! Kept me on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns. Love the animals too!! Pick this book up today!!

This is the ninth book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries series. While you don't necessarily need to read them in order to understand, I will say that this book in particular involves characters from other books and talks about things that happened in other books. That being said, you don't have to have read any of the other books to be able to understand this book and it's characters.

This one was such fun and spooky locked room murder mystery. I found it to be really clever and a perfect read for late summer into early fall. This is probably my favorite of the series so far. I really enjoyed the touch of the paranormal and it was a fun mystery to try and solve.

Overall, this mystery is interesting with enough twists to keep you guessing. I'd definitely recommend this book and this series to cozy mystery lovers.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the audio arc of this book!

I always love how Vicki Delany is able to sprinkle interesting and cool facts about Sherlock and Doyle into her stories.
The mystery remained, just that, until the reveal. I was not able to guess who the killer was but it all made sense once you found out the who and why.
I am looking forward to reading the next installment in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series.

Kim Hicks did a good job narrating this novel and I will look for books narrated by Kim in the future.

I received a copy of this audiobook from NetGalley for an honest review.

So good! A fun addition to the Holmes Bookstore mystery series. I loved the friendships and relationships in this series. There's not much I can comment on without giving away the story but the spiritualist part of this book was interesting.

Book: 4 stars
Audio: 1 star

Pro:
* Familiar friends and setting
* Gemma is such a good Sherlock-type character
* Interesting way to bring the group of suspects together
Con:
* I never buy the “police ask the amateur for help and share their info” line
* Audiobook narration is atrocious. The attempts at different voices and accents are beyond unsuccessful and becomes distracting. Such a disservice to a well-reputed author’s work.

Thank you to Vicki Delany, Crooked Lane books, and NetGalley for an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun, and unusually good quality for a true cozy.

I’m happy to have been introduced to Vicki Delany, because it’s so hard to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to cozy mysteries.

The setting and atmosphere were fun and evocative, and the mystery itself was well structured and satisfyingly plotted.

Aside from historical mysteries, it’s tough to find cozies that aren’t too formulaic, hokey, or just poorly plotted. This was none of those things, and I’m looking forward to going back and reading the previous books in the series as well.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

What I love about Gemma: She’s socially awkward, blunt to the point of cringing at times and comically detail oriented at the worst (and best) of times! She speaks her mind and doesn’t fuss overmuch about how her opinion is received. The woman has confidence and class (she’s a British ex-pat after all) and her cat hates her. 🙂 In short, she makes a most captivating amateur sleuth heroine.

Gemma is the reason I am such a fan of this series but the quirky secondary characters are a close second and that combination keeps me coming back for more Sherlockian adventures.

This ninth book in the ‘Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery‘ series is just as entertaining and unputdownable as all the others. A mystery layered with intrigue wrapped up in a twisty-turny plot with the bookshop and tearoom providing the perfect cozy backdrop. There’s an array of potential suspects to give your sleuthing armchair a real workout (I was wrong for the longest time!) It’s sharp and funny with just the right balance of wit and drama. And a wee bit of romance too.

I listened to the audio book expertly narrated by Kim Hicks. She caught the nuances of dry humour and inward eye rolls that I’ve come to associate with Gemma Doyle perfectly. :-)

My thanks to the publisher, Dreamscape Media and Net Galley for providing me with a copy of ‘The Sign of the Four Spirits’.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from NetGalley. No spoilers below.
This book follows Gemma Doyle as a psychic fair arrives in West London. She attends a seance that is interrupted by a brutal murder that she, once again, must investigate.
This book contains a host of interesting, silly, and enjoyably dislikeable characters. I deeply enjoyed the twists and turns of this mystery. I highly recommend this book as an audiobook as well. Kim Hicks is an incredible voice actor.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape media, and Vicki Delany for this audiobook ARC! I've never read anything with the Sherlock Holmes theme and I really enjoyed this delightful book. It always grabs me when one of the main characters works or owns a bookstore. The story is based in West London, Cape Cod, MA and the bookstore is called The Sherlock Holmes Bookstore and Emporium. There happens to be a psychic fair going on nearby and some of the patrons plan to go to a seance. Gemma, the bookstore co-owner, does not want to go but does tag along, only to be banned from the actual seance. What happens behind closed doors is the mystery of the book. Very good and I really enjoyed the characters. For some reason, it gave me "Vera" vibes (that's a British detective series on PBS). Anyhow, the narrator (Kim Hicks) British voice was perfect. Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape media, and Vicki Delany for this audiobook ARC! I've never read anything with the Sherlock Holmes theme and I really enjoyed this delightful book. It always grabs me when one of the main characters works or owns a bookstore. The story is based in West London, Cape Cod, MA and the bookstore is called The Sherlock Holmes Bookstore and Emporium. There happens to be a psychic fair going on nearby and some of the patrons plan to go to a seance. Gemma, the bookstore co-owner, does not want to go but does tag along, only to be banned from the actual seance. What happens behind closed doors is the mystery of the book. Very good and I really enjoyed the characters. For some reason, it gave me "Vera" vibes (that's a British detective series on PBS). Anyhow, the narrator's (Kim Hicks) British voice was perfect.

Another wonderful addition to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop world. When a séance ends in the death of the medium, our cast of characters need to figure out what happened and who is responsible before more ghosts are made. Insightful, suspenseful, and witty, Delany crafts a new mystery sure to delight fans of her previous books. The narrator for this audiobook is superb, channeling each character uniquely and creating a soothing atmosphere with her sweet accent and perfect annunciation. For mystery lovers who like stories that tow the line between charming and spooky, this series is for you!

This cozy borrows from the famous and beloved author and his character, transplanting Doyle's offspring to an American setting at an equally famous and beloved address. The comparison is nonexistent - this isn't Sherlock. This is Gemma and her friends assisting (and inserting themselves into the investigation of) law enforcement with a murder to which they have a connection. It's character-driven, moderately paced, implausible but charming in its own way, without leaning too heavily on the foundation of Sherlock that Doyle created. It's a lighter fare mystery with quirky folks who all have secrets that seem connected to the locals. It's a classic cozy.

I don't know if the narration tarnished this, but Gemma's character seemed like she should've been a lot older than she was. When I was reminded of her age, it seemed so incongruent. With further regard to the narration, the accents were distractingly bad. From a general New England accent to Boston, I cringed a lot. However, she did a fair job of voicing the characters in a distinguishable way, and her reading was done well, but it took away from the story.

This is the 9th book in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery series. I have read a few of the books, but not all, and I don’t think it hindered my enjoyment of this one. This time around a psychic fair comes to town which not only brings in more customers than Gemma could have predicted – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was an outspoken proponent of Spiritualism after all. Gemma, against her better judgment, agrees to join her friends at a séance held by Madame Levalier. During the séance, there is a commotion in the library, the lights go out and when they are turned on, Madame Levalier is dead, stabbed in the neck with a hat pin. Obviously, someone in the room is a killer, and Gemma is anxious to discover who.

I like Gemma. She’s like most cozy sleuths – owns a bookstore, has two dogs, has a detective boyfriend, and lives in a cute small town. She’s very observant but can be a little brusque. And of course, I love her Holmes-inspired bookstore. The series regulars are a good bunch, a few more quirky than others, and their conversations and interactions feel real. The setting is beautiful, a place I’d love to visit.

The mystery is put together well. We’ve got several suspects, a few secrets, and a couple of red herrings. Gemma sifts through what she’s seen and heard to get to the solution. The whodunnit is not surprising, but I don’t need twists in every story I read.

I have another from this series waiting on the shelf for me to read. I’m looking forward to it.

Another great book in this series. This one had several twists as the killer is narrowed down, but it still keeps you guessing who did it and why. I liked how this one took place away from the bookshop/tea room and gave you insight into some of the other characters and why they acted the way they did. Looking forward to the next one,.

While this is the ninth in the series, it's my first experience. It's a typical cozy, locked-room mystery. I guessed the culprit at the first clue drop.

A British expat on Cape Cod, Gemma Doyle owns the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium (which she previously managed for her great uncle Arthur while he was away, which, I gather, was most of the time). Gemma's relationship with Jayne—best friend and business neighbor (Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room, adjoining the bookstore)—is good. However, Gemma does not come off as particularly likeable in her treatment of most other characters. She is practically a sweetheart in comparison to a few of the guests in this story.

The psychic fair/séance aspect of the story was mildly interesting and fun. I might read back or future installments when I'm in a very cozy mystery mood.

Thank you, NetGalley and Dreamscape Media, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected January 9.

This is the second book I've read in this series, and I wish I'd started from the beginning, mostly because I'm enjoying them so much!

The narrator, Kim Hicks, does an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and reminds me very much of my all-time favorite narrator, Barbara Rosenblatt.

Gemma Doyle is at it again! As much as she has no intention of getting involved in a murder investigation, this closed-room case requires her keen skills of observation to ferret out a murderer. With very little evidence to go on, Gemma manages to pull together enough information to eventually unmask the killer!

I really enjoyed the characters, the logic, the setting, and the story! And I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you to Vicki Delany, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.